Homebrew Frostmaiden Doppelganger Species Details

I'm a shapechanger. I have none of the traits of the race I’m imitating, but I retain my class features, background, and alignment. I have darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. I can use an action to do either of the following at will:

• I can innately cast detect thoughts, requiring no components. My spellcasting ability is Intelligence. The spell’s Wisdom save DC is 8 + my proficiency bonus + my Intelligence modifier.
• I can polymorph into any humanoid I have seen or back into my true form. My statistics, other than my size, don’t change. Any equipment I’m wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. I revert to my true form when I die.
  
  

  Doppelgangers are devious shapeshifters that take on the appearance of other humanoids, throwing off pursuit or luring victims to their doom with misdirection and disguise. Few creatures spread fear, suspicion, and deceit better than doppelgangers. Found in every land and culture, they can take on the guise of any individual of any race.

  Stealing Secrets. A doppelganger’s adopted form allows it to blend into almost any group or community, but its transformation doesn’t impart languages, mannerisms, memory, or personality. Doppelgangers often follow or capture creatures they intend to impersonate, studying them and probing their minds for secrets. A doppelganger can read a creature’s surface thoughts, allowing it to glean that creature’s name, desires, and fears, along with a few scattered memories. A doppelganger impersonating a specific creature as part of a long-term plot might keep its double alive and close at hand for weeks, probing the victim’s mind daily to learn how to behave and speak authentically.

  Hedonistic Swindlers. Doppelgangers work alone or in small groups, with group roles shifting from con to con. While one doppelganger takes the place of a murdered merchant or noble, the others take on a number of identities as circumstances warrant, playing the parts of family or servants while they live off the victim’s riches.

  Changelings. Doppelgangers are too lazy or self-interested to raise their young. They assume attractive male forms and seduce women, leaving them to raise their progeny. A doppelganger child appears to be a normal member of its mother’s species until it reaches adolescence, at which point it discovers its true nature and is driven to seek out its kind to join them.

 

Frostmaiden Doppelganger Traits

Your doppelganger character has the following traits.

Darkvision

You have darkvision out to a range of 60 ft. You can see in dim light within the radius as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Read Thoughts

I can innately cast detect thoughts, requiring no components. My spellcasting ability is Intelligence. The spell’s Wisdom save DC is 8 + my proficiency bonus + my Intelligence modifier.

Immunities

Immune to the Charmed Condition.

Ability Score Increase

Your Charisma score increases by 2. In addition, one other ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Age

Changelings mature slightly faster than humans but share a similar lifespan—typically a century or less. While a changeling can transform to conceal their age, the effects of aging affect them similarly to humans.

Alignment

Changelings tend toward pragmatic neutrality, and few changelings embrace evil.

Size

Your size is Medium. To set your height and weight randomly, start with rolling a size modifier:

Size modifier = 2d4

Height = 5 feet + 1 inch + your size modifier in inches

Weight in pounds = 115 + (2d4 × your size modifier)

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Shapechanger

You are a Monstrosity (Shapechanger), instead of Humanoid. 
As an action, I can polymorph into any humanoid I have seen or back into my true form. My statistics, other than my size, don’t change. Any equipment I’m wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. I revert to my true form when I die.

Doppelganger Instincts

You gain proficiency with the following skills: Deception and Insight

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common.